Shadowgates
by TennesseeTaylor
Summary: This is basically a short intro for a coming series...first one up will be Fire...so all you pyro heads be ready.


"Well, since ye ain't listnin' ta reason," Mia Wheeler half smirked, half frowned, "I guess I'll hafta teach ye a lil' lesson in manna's!"

"Very well, mutt, my monsters could use the chance to sharpen their fangs."

Mia had never encountered anyone quite like this Seth character before; he was rumored to be more skilled than either of her parents or their friends, even Yugi. But she had no choice, father had always told her, "Don' you EVA" let nobody disrespet ya…yer a Wheeler, Mia, an' Wheelers don' put up wit ANY disrespet." Oddly enough, it seemed as though he had bumped into her intentionally, but his demeanor indicated he wasn't the type to be rude for no reason...curious.

"Ladies first madam," Seth bowed low to the ground as he spoke, "provided you agree to make it interesting…" a smile, unfathomable in nature, grew upon his handsome face. Mia thought about her deck long and hard…"Deal…let's duel!"

As Mia drew her cards she felt a wave of relief pass over her, she had drawn some of her best cards. "I'll opn' up wit da Mystic Elf in defense mode an' one card face down. Yer move sweet'art."

"And now for my conditions…If I can't defeat you in this turn then I get one wish, within reason of course." Seth's hand gently swept over his deck, drawing out his sixth card. "I play Pot of Greed, I'm sure I need not explain its effect." As he drew his two new cards a look like none she had seen entered his eyes. "Excellent," he said, his voice somewhere between a hiss and a purr, "Looks like I'll be collecting on our little deal, my dear." Effortlessly, as if his motions were instinctive, his hands played along with his narration, "I play Dark Hole and Heavy Storm, destroying your Elf and your facedown card. Next I activate Polymerization and fuse three, yes three, monsters from my hand…three Blue Eyes White Dragons to be exact…thus forming my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Mia's eyes widened, those cards belonged to her uncle Seto…how could he? "And now I play De-fusion…that's right, my dear…now all three of my Blue Eyes end up directly on my field." Seth laughed heartily, "Now my three creatures…Combine your powers and attack Miss Wheeler with your magnificent Blinding Nova!" The three dragons drew their heads together and inhaled, and in one swift motion turned on her an unleashed a mighty blast of white light, knocking her off her feet.

Mia felt her duel disc shudder as it closed but saw nothing through the smoke around her. As the haze lifted she saw a pair of black shoes in front of her, she looked up and saw Seth leaning down to offer her help getting up. Mia took his hand, his fingers closed around her hand, and he pulled her up, "You duel well, from the little I saw," he grinned. "And now for my wish, we had a deal…"

Joshi Muto lay on the roof of his parent's store, gazing up at the azure sky. Mother had insisted that he get a little fresh air. He felt a heavy presence come near him, "Hey, Dad, what's up?" His father sat beside him, "Son, how long has it been since we dueled? I miss the challenge." Joshi looked over at his father, "I'll take you on right now, old man." Yami laughed, "You definitely inherited your father's spirit, my son." The two leapt from the low awning to the side yard. Joshi exchanged decks with his father.

"What was he like? I mean Yugi…its so weird having to real Dads." Yami smiled at his boy, "I imagine it is; your father and I were really the same man. As I've told you before, my body died when I entered into the millennium puzzle, the remnants of my soul that lingered with my body were later reincarnated as Yugi. When our souls combined again we began to grow into one again. However, a few months before you were born; the last member of the Millennium Clan who had not yet had a child completed a ritual which granted him an heir…the rest is dangerous for you to know other than that he defeated and destroyed Yugi, leaving me alone in our body….so you're son to us both." Joshi smiled back, "And you've done one hell of a job as a father. I really lucked out." The two laughed and proceeded with their practice duel.

Three hours and several matches later, Joshi's mother came out of the house looking rather miffed. "Yami and Joshi Muto, I am preparing dinner for YOUR guests and you aren't lifting one finger to help!" The father-son duo exchanged a look of bemused fright, "Sorry, Tea, we did miss greeting the Wheelers, did we?" Tea smiled, "No, but you'd best hurry and get in here before they arrive." Joshi followed his father inside the house and helped his mother set the table. About fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang. Joshi went to open the door; he had unfortunately forgotten…"JOSHI! how the heck are yeh, ya lil' monkey?" Joey Wheeler pulled Joshi into a headlock and proceeded to nuggie him in greeting. "Hello, Joey." Joshi looked around his father's portly best friend at his wife, Mai, and his daughter (Joshi's best friend), Mia. Mia had brought someone with her but Joshi couldn't see who it was around Mai's pregnant belly. Yami stopped chuckling (he had exploded with laughter when Joey had greeted his son), "Alright, Joey, we know you're here." Joey let go of Joshi, who fell on the floor, and went over to hug his old friend, "Yami it's been waaaaay to long, man." Tea bustled out of the kitchen to greet Mai and Mia. Joshi pulled himself off the floor and dusted himself off.

After closing the door, he turned to re-join the gang in living room but stopped. There, leaning on the wall between the living room and the entry hall stood Mia's guest, her cousin on her father's side Serenia Kiaba. "Hello, Muto, it's nice to see you again. How goes life in Domino?" the slender-built, crimson-haired girl purred. She straightened herself up and sauntered over to and around to the side of Joshi, "I hear you take even more after you father than when I saw you last, as do I. The chatter in the living room ceased, everyone was listening to what they said; Joshi returned the dark glare that had entered Serenia's eyes. "If that's a challenge, at dueling or martial arts, then I suggest you think carefully before you get in over your head." At the word "head," Joshi leapt slightly to avoid Serenia's foot; he brought down his hand but missed. She moved towards the living room, he followed. They exchanged dagger-like looks and moved faster and faster in a circle, throwing and missing increasingly powerful moves. After a full minute of this they stopped, Joshi's hand caught by Serenia. "Damn…you win again," Joshi smiled, as did his old rival and close friend. "Prize time," She chuckled and quickly pecked him on the lips, "That'll do." Joey and Yami started to laugh, then Tea, then Mia, then Joshi and Serenia.

"Joey, dear…please don't eat so fast…you'll set a bad example for little Tristan." Mai tried to conceal her embarrassment at her husband's table manners, or lack thereof. Joey stopped shoveling in Tea's mashed potatoes and gravy, "C'mon, Mai, he ain't even born yet." Mai gave up and shrugged at Tea, who then looked at her son, who was doing a little shoveling of his own. Joshi looked up and swallowed and grinned sheepishly; "So, Mia, now that we're all here, tell us this big news of yours, the suspense is killing me," Serenia purred. Mia grinned, "Ok, this is so awesome…I have been taken as the student of one of the world's best duelists…he could probably beat you, Yami…no offense," Yami smiled, "None taken." "Anyway, I think he must be a friend of your father's, Serenia, he has his Blue Eyes Cards," Serenia jumped slightly and got a strange look in her eye. "I don't see how that's possible; he and Uncle Moki took their decks with them to the dig site." Yami cocked his head, "Dig site?"

"Yeah, they were building a new small office in Egypt. After that Mal abz Si guy won the world championship, Kiabacorp's business in Egypt skyrocketed," Serenia explained, "Daddy, thought it best they get a bigger building, nothing fancy, just large enough to handle their affairs in the region. But apparently their land claim had an ancient tomb deep under it, so when the dug the foundations, they stumbled across it." "Foundations?" Joey had a quizzical look, nothing unusual, "I thought yeh sayd it was deeeep down." Serenia looked at him, "Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention, they decided to give the building a tomb theme, so most of it is sub-terrainian…so the foundations are a lot deeper, since it's an office building it can't be built into the foundations like a real tomb, the physics of it (or more likely daddy's sense of Fung Shui) escapes me. But anyway, this tomb was really weird; it didn't have any sarcophaguses in it." Yami was looking of into space thoughtfully, after a moment or to he looked back at the group, "It is possible that it is a Temple, long buried by sandstorms." Serenia nodded, "Yeah, that's what Daddy thought but then he noticed there were places for sarcophaguses, slight indentations in the floor; there were six in a perfect circle with one lined up perfectly pointing north in the center, when they tried to examine them they lifted up our of the floor…" "Like a booby trap!" Joey exclaimed excitedly. Serenia shook her head, "No…just tables of stone, no markings or anything." Yami pondered some more, "I have no recollection of such an edifice…it must be important though…I read all of our architectural archives in my youth, I wanted to be royal chief architect one day…I've never heard of any such type of building. Serenia, what would be the most convenient way for me to get in touch with your father? I'd like to get a hold of Shadi and the grave-keepers Isis and Malik and have a look at the place." A look of sorrow cam across Serenia's face, "Daddy and Uncle Moki haven't gotten back in touch with Mother in months…that's not like them. I'm worried about them."

"So what do you think of this, Yami? I thought all the shadow magic would be gone once all of the millennium clan conceived a child…locked away for another 5000 years." Tea was worried beyond reason, and her appearance showed it, "Yes, but if you'll remember…Bakura ate Ryou alive and took over their shared body, then he found the last remnants of Malik's dark side and consumed them as well. But the ritual he was using to try and produce an immortal copy of himself failed…he and his body were shredded into nothing and reformed into a body for the Dark God Set." Tea shivered as the memory of what Set had done to Yugi flashed across her mind. Yami looked down, seeing the same memory in his reflection on the polished oak table. "If Set is still alive," whispered Yami, as if he feared granting his thoughts too much volume would bring them to life, "Then he will release the keepers of the Shadowgates and then…my worst fear will be realized and the true power of the Millennium Items will awaken. If that happens, I cannot avert the tragedy it will herald…only the worthy keeper of the Millennium Puzzle can." Tea looked back up at her husband, "But it's _your_ Millennium Item," Yami sighed, "No…my link to its power was severed the moment it's new master was born. I should have known that the birth of the 'Child without Time' would mean this would happen…I'm such a fool." Tea retained her questioning look, "Well we have to find this guy before it's too late." Her husband peered deep into her eyes and found the shred of truth she had tried so hard to ignore from the moment the words "Child without Time" left his mouth. "Yes, Tea, a child born to parents from different worlds, different ages…the only one who can save the world from this accursed pyramid around my next is our son…"


End file.
